I brought a birthday present to my mother’s vacation house, but right at the doorstep, my 8-year-old daughter clutched my hand and whispered, “mom… don’t go inside.” when i questioned her, she simply begged, “please. let’s just go home.” i set the gift on the porch and turned away. however, during the drive back, something happened that i will remember forever.
Chapter 1: The Hidden Box My name is **Eleanor “Ellie” Hayes**, and I grew up in New England, where old wooden houses held secrets and ghost stories. My mother, **Sylvia**, is a retired architect with a passionate love for home renovations, especially those that have been forgotten.
My mother’s newest vacation home is in suburban Vermont, deep in pine forests and cobblestone hills. It’s an old **A-frame cabin**, built in the 1970s, completely isolated from the outside world. My mother calls it *“The Haven”*, but I always felt it was more like an isolation trap.
It was my mother’s 70th birthday. I had driven six hours from Boston with my eight-year-old daughter, **Clara**. Clara was a sensitive child, with big green eyes that seemed to always see more than I saw.
In the trunk of my car was the perfect birthday present: a **classical music box** that her mother had always longed for as a child.
When we arrived, the late afternoon sun had painted the surrounding maple leaves red. No cars were parked outside. The house was dark, except for a faint yellow light emanating from the kitchen window.
“Is Aunt Sylvia asleep?” Clara asked, her voice tiny.
“Your mother never goes to bed early, darling,” I chuckled. “She’s probably reading in the kitchen.”
I switched off the car, and a thick silence fell over us. Only the wind rustled through the pine trees.
I got out of the car, opened the back door to lift Clara out. The moment her feet touched the gravel, she stiffened.
“Mommy,” Clara whispered.
I turned to look at her. Clara wasn’t usually a frightened child; she was quite brave. But now, her eyes were wide with terror.
“What’s wrong, darling?”
Clara clutched my hand, her tiny fingers digging in so hard it hurt. She stared straight at the house, where darkness was spreading.
“Mommy… **don’t go inside**,” she pleaded.
“Why not, my love? Grandma’s waiting for us.”
“No,” Clara shook her head vigorously. “Grandma… **She’s not there**.”
“She must be tired,” I tried to reassure myself. “Grandma might be in the study. Shall we go in?”
I tried to pull her toward the porch. But Clara stood still like a post, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Please, Mom,” she pleaded, her voice trembling, “Let’s go home. I don’t want Grandma to be upset. But I don’t want you in there.”
She couldn’t explain. Her fear was too primal and real.
I looked at the house. I was a grown woman, a scientist (I work in renewable energy research), and I didn’t believe in the myths. But my daughter’s fear was too convincing.
I decided not to argue. Clara’s safety came first.
“Okay, darling,” I said, my voice as soft as I could. “We won’t go in. We’ll put the gift on the porch, and we’ll find a motel in the nearest town.”
I went up the steps, placing the **Classical Music Box** wrapped in silver paper on the doormat. I stepped back, took Clara’s hand, and turned away.
As I turned my back, I had a chilling feeling that **someone was watching us** from the kitchen window.
I hurried toward the car. I didn’t look back, I didn’t let Clara look back.
###Chapter 2: The Cry of Loneliness I drove off the muddy dirt road, toward the main highway leading to the nearest town. My heart was still pounding.
“What did you see, Clara?” I asked, trying to keep my voice normal.
Clara huddled in her seat, clutching her teddy bear. “Nothing, Mom. I just didn’t like that house.”
I knew she was lying. But I decided not to press her. I knew her character. If anything was wrong, she’d tell me when she felt safe.
After about fifteen minutes of driving, we were near the highway. I felt relieved.
Just then, **something happened that I’ll never forget.**
My phone rang. It was a video call from my mother, **Sylvia**.
I looked at the clock. 8:15 p.m.
I hesitated. If she was video calling, she probably wasn’t home.
I answered the call, putting it on speakerphone.
“Mom, I’m so sorry! Clara and I just arrived, but she wasn’t feeling well, so we had to come back. I left the gift on the porch.”
The phone screen showed my mother’s face—gray hair, a radiant smile. She was sitting in her familiar living room in **San Diego, California**. Not Vermont.
“Oh, Ellie! That’s a shame! You know, the **classic music box** you were talking about. Wonderful! You certainly know how to surprise me.”
I frowned. “Mom, I didn’t tell you what it was. How did you know it was a music box?”
My mother chuckled. “You
“Silly girl! You always talked about it when Clara was little! But hey, don’t worry. Your music box is safe.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t be in Vermont. You’re in California!”
“Of course I’m in California,” my mother said, shrugging. “I can’t abandon the pool project here. I texted you this morning that I **won’t be coming to Vermont** for your birthday. I just asked you to **receive a package from a collector** that was sent there, because that’s the safest address. Didn’t you get the text?”
I opened my messages. Yes, there was a missed message in my spam folder: *”Don’t worry about Vermont, I’m in California. That music box is mine.” “Just take it there and leave it on the porch.”
I felt a chill run down my spine. My mother wasn’t in Vermont. The house was empty.
“But… Mom,” I said, my voice trembling. “If you’re not there, then… who’s in that house?”
My mother frowned. “That house is empty, Ellie. It’s been sealed off three months ago, right after I finished the renovations. No one’s in there.”
I looked at Clara, who was clutching her teddy bear and staring at me with frightened eyes.
“Who turned on the kitchen light, Mom?” I whispered. “Who was watching us through the window?”
My mother became serious. “Ellie, you’re scaring me. That area is very isolated. Could it be some homeless person breaking in? Go back and call the police right now!”
“No!” I yelled. “I was there. Clara wouldn’t let me in.” “I’ve put the gift on the porch.”
I hung up, my hands trembling. I looked in the rearview mirror, but there was nothing but pine trees and darkness.
**Something was in that house.**
**Someone had taken my mother’s gift, the classic music box, right after I put it down.**
###Chapter 3: The Music of Truth I drove straight to the police station in the small town, reporting the break-in and theft.
A young officer, **Officer Davies**, accompanied me back to the house.
When we arrived, the house was once again shrouded in darkness. Davies drew his gun and proceeded to search around.
“There are no signs of forced entry, Mrs. Hayes,” Davies said. “The windows are closed, the front door is locked. It looks like no one was here.”
We went up to the porch. There was no music box.
“It was here,” I said, pointing to the doormat. “A large, silver music box. It’s gone.”
Davies examined the footprints on the ground. “Only your and your daughter’s footprints on the soft ground. No other footprints.”
“Impossible!” I insisted. “Someone took it. Someone must have been in the house!”
Davies sighed. “Could a fox or a bear have dragged it into the woods, ma’am? Or maybe you left it in the car?”
“No!”
I looked at Clara, still sitting in the police car, her eyes fixed on the house.
I went to the front door. **The brass lock gleamed.** I saw that my mother had been very meticulous in locking the door.
“Officer, please. Break the lock. I need to know what happened.”
Davies nodded, calling for permission to break down the door.
When we entered, everything was neat and clean, completely devoid of any sign of life. The kitchen counter gleamed, books neatly arranged on the shelves. **No one was there.**
“Mrs. Hayes,” Davies said, “the house is completely empty.”
But in the study, on the oak table, I found **a small note**. It wasn’t my mother’s.
The note was written in pencil, the handwriting scrawled, like a child’s.
> **“She wanted it. She took it.”**
I turned, clutching the note. “What’s going on? Who wrote this?”
I looked at Clara, who was standing in the doorway, her eyes fixed on me.
Davies took a picture of the note and placed it in his evidence bag.
“Mrs. Hayes, I think you need to go home and rest. Perhaps you’ve been through too much stress.”
###Chapter 4: The Child’s Twist We left that haunted house. I drove Clara home, my heart filled with confusion.
I couldn’t sleep. The next morning, I called my mother and told her the whole story, including the note.
My mother was silent for a long time. “Ellie, do you remember Clara’s rare illness when she was four? She was in a coma for a few days.”
“Yes, but she’s fine now.”
“After she woke up,” my mother said, her voice serious, “she started talking to a new **imaginary friend**. She called it **Little Sylvia.**”
My heart pounded. “What are you talking about?”
“I went to see a pediatric psychologist. He said that during the coma, some **part of her consciousness** may have been affected.” “She could have a mild **dissociative disorder**, or an overly strong imaginary friend.”
I gripped the phone tightly. “Clara hasn’t had any symptoms in years!”
“But she’s very sensitive to old houses. That V
“Does it look like Clara’s handwriting?”
I found the note in my jeans pocket. I took out Clara’s notebook.
**The handwriting on the note – “She wanted it. She took it.” – was exactly like Clara’s handwriting.**
I went back to the video I’d recorded in the car on the highway. The video after Clara begged me not to go inside.
I played that part.
*My voice:* “Mom, I’m sorry! Clara and I just got there, but she wasn’t feeling well, so we had to come back. I left the gift on the porch.”
And here’s what I missed. **The Unexpected Twist.**
The moment I said I’d left the gift on the porch, a tiny figure appeared in the rear camera’s corner.
It was **Clara.**
But **Clara was sitting in the passenger seat** next to me, huddled and clutching her teddy bear.
Who was in the back?
I slowed down the video. The tiny figure seemed to be running out of the house, sprinting toward the car. I didn’t look in the rearview mirror as I drove away.
I looked at my daughter’s face in the video, as I said I’d left the gift on the porch.
**Clara was looking into the back seat, and she was smirking.** That smirk was cunning, completely out of place on the sensitive child I knew.
**The Cold Truth:**
1. **My mother wasn’t in Vermont.**
2. **The house was empty.**
3. **Clara hadn’t** She wanted me inside because she had committed a theft—or some other deliberate act—and she didn’t want me to see it.
I ran out into the garden, where Clara was playing.
“Clara, you took Grandma’s music box, didn’t you?”
She blinked. “What music box, Mom?”
I pulled her inside. I opened her toy box.
And I found it. The silver classical music box, hidden under a pile of teddy bears.
“Grandma wanted it. She took it.”
It wasn’t my grandmother, Sylvia. **It was Clara.**
But why would she do that?
I rummaged through the music box. I found a small object, not part of the music box, glued to the bottom: a small, old photograph of my mother as a child.
I looked at the picture. My mother, as a child, was holding a music box.
And right next to my mother was another little girl. Exactly like Clara. **My mother had a twin sister who died when she was young.**
I remembered my mother saying: **”Clara might have mild dissociative disorder, or an overly strong imaginary friend.”**
Clara wasn’t the thief. Clara was being controlled by **little Sylvia**, an imaginary friend that had grown into a **other personality**.
I replayed the video. **The small figure running toward the car wasn’t Clara**, but her **other personality**, which had run into the car. She went home, took the gift that **Grandma** (or her twin sister) wanted her to take, and left a note.
And finally, I realized the most devastating twist.
**Clara** (the main personality) begged me not to go inside because she knew **little Sylvia** (the other personality) had planned to take the gift, and she didn’t want me to see the theft.
“I did it because I love you, Mom,” Clara (little Sylvia) whispered, that mischievous smile reappearing on her lips. “**I can’t leave you alone.**”
I looked at my daughter. **The house wasn’t haunted.** **My daughter was the one who was haunted.**
I had turned away on my mother’s birthday. But now, I couldn’t turn back anymore.
ermont house is where Mom lived as a child. Your grandmother died there.”
And then my mother said something that made me drop the phone.
“Ellie, you said that note had childish, scrawled handwriting on it, right? You checked the handwriting.”
